By Blush Photo.

Ever. It's not funny anymore. I don't think it ever was. Thank you.

Last weekend, I set out to pick up a handful of albums and say my goodbyes to Fremont’s Sonic Boom. Here on Line Out, comments regarding the closing of the store were met with a variety of responses. There were the expected laments, but also a few bouts of cynicism implying that record buying is somehow on par with renting VHS tapes or having a land-line home phone number. What a shame… I love buying records, and judging from the amount of customers at Sonic Boom on Monday, I’m inclined to think a healthy percentage of Seattleites feel the same. But rather than dwelling on the loss of a beloved outpost of musical wares, I thought I’d take the opportunity to highlight a local business that’s still alive and kickin’. Whenever I start to feel unimpressed or bored with the current crop of music being discussed in glossy magazines and publicist-driven websites, I know I can find something to renew my interest at Wall of Sound. Situated at 315 E. Pine Street on Capitol Hill, Wall of Sound is the kind of shop where I always manage to discover records I never even knew existed. I’m still kicking myself for missing the opportunity last fall to buy their vinyl bootleg of Jim Jones’ last recorded sermon (hand numbered edition of 913: one for every person that died at Jonestown).

I was curious to see how Jeffery Taylor, the bearded guru typically found manning the counter, viewed the climate in today’s music industry.

First off, could you elaborate on the history of the record store? I know it's a tedious question, especially when there's already a brief blurb on your website about it, but I’m more interested in the personnel behind the store and the initial impetus for WoS.

Wall Of Sound started in 1990 inside the Art In Form bookstore on the corner of 2nd and Bell. Two guys started it (Mark Sullo and Eric Hoffman) because they had a passion for music and sound that was a bit outside of the mainstream. It was just one little wall of the shop with tapes and LPs (hence Wall of Sound) and they carried all sorts of weird and cool sounds that NO ONE was carrying in town.

How has the Internet age affected WoS? Has the general industry drop in CD sales been apparent at the store, or do you think the increased exposure of peripheral music has drawn more people to your store?

It has affected us in the same way it has affected countless other small indie record shops. We have experienced the same downturn in CD sales that the entire industry has. With easy access to the glut of free music on the Internet it becomes increasingly difficult to maintain a steady consumer base. While it has been more difficult for us in the last 5 or 6 years, we do have a faithful core clientele and we hope to continue to add to the list of Wall Of Sound fans and customers. We have no advertising budget to speak of and rely on word of mouth or maybe a mention in the press every now and again for one of our events. We send out weekly emails with new reviews and other info which also serves as a reminder "hey folks, we're still here, stop by for a visit!"

The following is a quote from a commenter on Slog regarding the Sonic Boom closure; "OMG, a record store is going out of business!!! Oh wait - that happens all the time, because we have the Internet now. Anybody running a record store now who doesn't expect to be forced into shutting down in the next 5 years should be given a Gold Star for Baseless Optimism." Well, we'd like our gold star now please.

Continue reading "Wall Of Sound: Long Live Physical Media!" »

Photos by Morgan Keuler.

Photos by Morgan Keuler.

(More of his photos and my review of the whole show will be posted later today--I'm still trying to gather my thoughts after Mouth of the Architect blew my brain out of the back of my skull.[Helm's Alee were fantastic, by the way.])

Tonight is the third and final round of Sound Off semi-finals featuring Deer City, Kusikia, Shotty, and Man Down Medic. Here's a little more info about each band from this week's Underage:

Deer City is a name you may already be familiar with, as the Issaquah kid's gotten a couple mentions in The Stranger lately. Deer City's Jeff Stillwell is a talented, one-man, teenaged band armed with a gamut of keyboards, drum machines, and other noisy toys. His thoughtful electro-pop tunes have the honesty of a young Bright Eyes minus all the debilitating depression.

Listen to the song "Austrian Empire" by Deer City.

Man Down Medic from Seattle share Deer City's electronic inclinations (in that they also have keyboards), but instead of lo-fi bedroom lullabies, Man Down Medic play power pop dripping with oversized emotions. They've got the kind of explosive, anthemic choruses that Reggie and the Full Effect rock, but Man Down Medic add dreamy male vocals, bright female harmonies, and subtract the lyrics about midgets and fictional Swedish metal bands.

Listen to the song "Extra Extra" by Man Down Medic.

If you're a fan of more traditional alternative rock, then Kirkland's Shotty's the band you'll be rooting for. Their influences include Loudermilk, the Smashing Pumpkins, and "loose women and broken hearts." They're perhaps the most straightforward rock band in this year's Sound Off!—though sometimes they throw in a little pop ("Blue Bom") or some dirty guitars ("Deep Fried") to keep ya guessing.

Listen to the song "Emporer X" by Shotty.

Finally, from Tacoma, is a duo called Kusikia. They do experimental jazz-meets-blues stuff by way of drums and guitar—it's not all instrumental, but there are very few vocals. Their sometimes-psychedelic songs really sound more like sessions—a couple of musicians jamming after listening to some Hendrix records. It'll be interesting to see how their loose compositions stand up to, say, Man Down Medic's pop outbursts.

Listen to "Inconnu" by Kusikia.

Tonight's show starts at 8 pm on Level 3 at EMP|SFM. Tickets are $7 for students and EMP members, and $10 for general public. The line up won't be announced until right before the show, so if you're going for a specific band, get there on time to make sure you don't miss 'em.

The Mountain Goats are in town, playing Neumo's with Jeffery Lewis (who Eric posted about yesterday). Eric also interrogated Mountain Goats' John Darnielle this week:

Do you still get pegged as "lo-fi" even though it's been years and albums since the Mountain Goats recorded to cassette? If so, does that bother you?

Let me answer this question with a question: Have you ever dreamt of getting your dishes done and lawn mowed by a singer-songwriter dude? Because I will do it. Because I love this question just that much. Because yes, people persist in calling our records "lo-fi." I spent all my home-recording years pointing out that "lo-fi" was a really stupid term, and then we went into a studio and recorded Tallahassee with Tony Doogan (Belle & Sebastian, Mogwai), and we thought, "Wow, this sounds quite different." But still, I could show you reviews that called that album "lower than lo-fi." I can guarantee you that people will ask me questions about the lo-fi sound of Heretic Pride before the day is over. It happens every album, and it's been eight years since I released anything recorded into a boom box.

Cobblestone Jazz play Nectar tonight, and they're this week's Bug in the Bassbin pick:

Most electronic shows are about as exciting to watch as data entry. Sure, there's sometimes engaging video work, but by and large, going out to a "show" means either watching someone casually mix records or lazily twiddle knobs. Admittedly, such performances are usually meant as a call to action (dance!), so it's refreshing to have acts like Cobblestone Jazz bridging the gap between live performance and dance party.

Also... Speaker Speaker celebrate the release of their new record at the Vera Project:

Speaker Speaker, the Lonely Forest, Lake of Falcons, Hungry Pines (Vera Project) In 2006, Speaker Speaker won $2,000 (and some gear from Gibson) in The Stranger's Big Shot! competition. That summer, they used their prize money to cross the country to Baltimore, Maryland, and record their debut full-length with former-Jawbox-frontman-turned-producer J. Robbins, who's worked with the Promise Ring, the Dismemberment Plan, and many others. It was a perfect fit and a dream come true for the band. On Call It Off, Robbins brings out the distorted, abrasive side of Speaker Speaker's quick and clean pop-punk-circa-Berkeley-1994 sound. The band have had to sit on the album for almost two years while they found a label (Burning Building) and went on a few tours. But tonight, Call It Off is finally being released to all those fans the band have amassed during their refusal to, heh, call it off. And not to steal the spotlight from them (as they're tonight's stars), but openers Hungry Pines are a fantastically blissed-out shoegaze-meets-Pixies band if the Pixies were fronted by Chrissie Hynde instead of big ol' Frank Black. Their new record should be out later this spring. MEGAN SELING

After you go out tonight, if you are still wanting a shindig, there is a late night happening full of beats and shaking flesh:

The Monkey Loft - 2817 1st Ave. S. From 1 AM to 6 AM.

Test out your headspin. Throw down till the sun comes up:

KJ Sawka, Nordic Soul, Electrosect, Ari Joshua , and Colin Johnson

Monotonix, Black Eyes and Neckties, and Loving Thunder @ the Comet

Last night was easily the best show I've seen so far this year. Bass and Drum duo Loving Thunder opened with solid DFA79 dance rock tracks. The texture on the bass was perfect - just the right amount of distortion, and incredibly full sounding.

On an normal bill you would be hard pressed to find another band that gives as much energy as Bellingham's Black Eyes and Neckties. During the second song the legs came out from under the keyboard, leaving singer Brad Lockhart to sing the rest of the track on his back using his legs as supports. The band threw themselves carelessly around the stage as the sold out crowd danced and sang along, giving them a hell of a reception. The last song devolved into a striptease, the band ending up a sweaty heap on the ground. In all, it went about as well as any band could hope for their Comet debut. I had heard Monotonix was good, but I had my doubts it was going to be all that much better than what I just saw.

Turns out I had no idea what myself or the Comet was in for. I don't think I've ever seen a band work a crowd or destroy a bar like Monotonix. They set fires and climbed the walls. The singer spent most of the show crowd surfing or climbing any available surface. He played the kick drum with his face. They set more fires. Sweat everywhere. Everyone was dancing, crowd surfing, participating. The drummer played his drums on the crowd. One of the light fixtures was torn from the ceiling. The management was not impressed. Everyone else had the time of their life. It was incredible. I forgot rock shows could be like that, if I ever really knew in the first place.

More photos after the jump.

Continue reading "How To Wreck a Bar" »

Hey kids, Gawker is still up and running! Crazy, right? But they do have an interesting story up here about how Maxim magazine (which is still publishing, too!) ran a review of the latest Black Crowes album (who knew they were still putting out albums?). The fact that Maxim ran a review of a Black Crowes album isn't that surprising, really, but the fact that they reviewed it and gave it two and a half stars without even listening to it is pretty weird.

The Black Crowes' label contacted Maxim, and they said this:

'Of course, we always prefer to (sic) hearing music, but sometimes there are big albums that we don't want to ignore that aren't available to hear, which is what happened with the Crowes. It's either an educated guess preview or no coverage at all, so in this case we chose the former.'

Kudos to Gawker, Maxim, and the Black Crowes for still existing. Way to survive!

Here. Watch this Teen Cthulu video from their last show and pray for the gods of death to cloud the sky and rain blood upon the streets.

Sunny days like today.

So want some new power pop music? The Lashes have posted side A of their new record Thank You on their MySpace page, so you can listen to for free. Yeah, it's only side A, but they're not holding out on you--side B isn't recorded (or even written) yet.

Head on over to www.myspace.com/thelashes to check out the six brand new songs.

_{Confidential to the Lashes: Goddammit. I know I haven't always been the biggest fan of your music, but you're writing some catchy songs these days. "Look at Us," is a damn fine pop song, and the chorus of "New Song" won't go away. I might have to start liking you after all.}

The Foo Fighters have announced that they are suing Marvel Comics for copyright infringement based on a trailer for a new Wolverine cartoon that uses "substantial excerpts" of the songs "Best of You" and "Free Me." It's clear that the songs appear in the trailer, so there's not much of an argument that Marvel can put up. Still, I can't help wishing that for some reason Grohl will lose, or at least that he would have asked them to remove the music without bringing legal action. This is a clash between two of my childhood idols - the Foo Fighters and the X-Men. Although I don't read comics like I used to, I would much rather pick up the new X-Men book than listen to the new Foo Fighters album. I long for the time when using someone's music could be construed as a compliment. Now it warrants a lawsuit. Obviously Grohl was never a comic book fan. Go get your money, Scrooge.

Lines floating in my head recently:

"Why is the bedroom so cold?" (Joy Division)
One of the saddest questions in the English language.

"Philosophy is the talk on a cereal box. Religion is the smile on a dog." (Edie Brickell)
3000 years of thought and speculation is reduced to the smile on a dog. And dogs don't even smile. Why do people hate philosophy so much? Why do people hate God so much? Another song puts God in the back of a bus. Yet another song puts God in the situation of a man who underperforms ("God, sometimes you just don't come through"). When will pop give Western philosophy and theology the respect it deserves?

"I'd rather have Jesus than silver or gold." (Jim Reeves)
The man who sang these words, Reeves, died because he thought he was flying up but was in fact flying down. His small plane was turned upside down by a sudden storm. He saw the world all wrong. Heaven and hell were playing tricks on him. He pulled up and flew into the ground.

"What more can I say?" (Audio Two)
The last sentence in Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus: "What we cannot speak of we must pass over in silence."

Mates of State - "Goods"

Speaking of PWRFL Power, he's one of this year's Young Ones. Last year PWRFL Power (Kazutaka Nomura) made quite an impression on the Seattle music scene--he had kept a low profile, playing his quaint acoustic songs at a few shows around the city, but only when he made it into the Block Star contest (where a handful of local bands competed for a slot on the mainstage at 2007's Capitol Hill Block Party), did he really start to sweep people of their feet. He won that battle at Vera Project (beating out Grynch, Lonely Forest, Optimus Rhyme, Skullbot, Speaker Speaker, and the Sutures) and he opened Saturday afternoon on the Mainstage. He also won a guest spot in an esurance commercial (which you just watched above).

Here's him playing "Let Me Show You How to Use Chopsticks" at the Block Party:

This year Kaz is releasing his full-length debut (it'll be out in a couple weeks on Slender Means Society). The art is fantastic--done by E*Rock of Portland, it's a hand-drawn starry explosion of happiness. And the album itself, it's a pure representation of PWRFL Power. They kept everything simple.

Check out a couple songs:
“It’s Okay”
“Alma Song”

Of course, my favorite PWRFL Power memory is when he interviewed himself in last year's Block Party pull-out. An excerpt:

Your MySpace "About Me" section says, "Sound is flour, music is a loaf of bread, and PWRFL POWER is a cute little bakery." Can you explain this?

People often think I am not serious about music. That could be true. My attitude toward my craft is flexible and casual. I am just experimenting with ways to make tasty bread. However, when it comes to picking flours, I am dead serious. I believe in my musical taste, technique, and personality. A lot of young musicians start thinking about how they can make rad music and often ignore the quality of ingredients. You won't make a good bread if you use moldy flour from corner delis!

I heard you have a huge crush on Tiny Vipers.

Who told you that!? Yes... I do. I had a dream about her a few days ago. We were in a bathroom and she said, "Kazu, don't watch me pee." So I looked at the wall and there was a mirror hung. I tried to see her in the mirror...

And then...

I woke up. I saw a girl sleeping right next to me. It was in NYC. I met the girl at some bar and she was a huge fan of Spoon. So I told her that I am playing with them in Seattle. That was quick. And that's the night I started liking Spoon. They are awesome.

Congratulations, PWRFL Power. May 2008 be your most successful year yet.

Join us Thursday March 6th for the Young Ones showcase with performances by Dyme Def, Arthur & Yu, and many of this year's Young Ones including Sleepy Eyes of Death, Throw Me the Statue, Truckasauras, Talbot Tagora, and many more, including one special secret guest! It's $5 for the whole thing, and all the money goes to benefit Real Change. Yay for helping the homeless!

Sometimes things fall through the cracks here at the Stranger. There just isn't enough room in the paper to cover everything, and some album, artist, or show gets critically overlooked. To this week's list of Rainydawg Radio and Monotonix, you can add Jeffrey Lewis.

Jeffrey Lewis hails from Portland by way of New York's anti-folk scene. His live shows sound pretty cool, but what's been burning a hole in my brain lately is his most recent album, a recording of twelve Crass songs perplexingly titled 12 Crass Songs. The liner notes include a cute, full-color comic strip detailing Lewis' love affair with the seminal British anarcho-punk band, from introduction by way of a skinhead roommate to the eventual recording of this album. Lewis' Crass covers are either a great introduction to Lewis, or to Crass, or to both, depending on where you're coming from. His versions are simple, mostly acoustic renditions, aided by occasional percussion, group vocals, or tape shenanigans, that highlight the undeniable strength of the original songs while improving admirably on many of the actual recordings.

His selections:

1. "End Result"
2. "I Ain't Thick, It's Just a Trick"
3. "Systematic Death"
4. "The Gasman Cometh"
5. "Banned From the Roxy"
6. "Where Next Colombus?"
7. "Do They Owe Us a Living?"
8. "Securicor"
9. "Demoncrats"
10. "Big A, Little a"
11. "Punk is Dead"
12. "Walls (Fun in the Oven)"

Jeffrey Lewis opens for the Mountain Goats tomorrow night at Neumo's.

(of course they fucking do!)

The big one on Haight St. I put a GWAR CD in the Belle and Sebastian section. I did it. And I’m sorry for it. One of the people working there was so beyond a dickhead to me. It was my feeble attempt at retaliation.

I asked a clerk a question about Ray Manzarek from the Doors. I thought I saw a poster that said he was doing an in-store. The record store guy did the eye roll, and grunted, and painstakingly answered me, “You mean the keyboard player from the Doors?”

Once I heard the intensity of his dickheaded-ness, I answered, “No, Ray Manzarek from GWAR.” Then the clerk just walked off. I was so pissed. I couldn’t help it.

I am now asking for forgiveness, great God of Record Stores. I know that guy was probably having a bad day. Maybe I was the ninth person to ask him about Manzarek. Maybe Manzarek had done something terrible to him, such as crap on his forehead, I don’t know. I should have let him be.

I don’t know how long the GWAR stayed there in the Belle and Sebastian. But someone found it and had to deal with it, and for that, I am sorry. Perhaps it’s still there.

Monotonix are garage punks from Tel Aviv Israel. And seeing *is* believing. Don't miss this one...

Tonight, the UW's student-run, truly free-form, basement-broadcasting but sadly online-only radio station, Rainydawg Radio, turns five. To celebrate, they're bringing up Portland's weirdo choir boys Menomena and wild mountain men Blitzen Trapper. Seattle's own indie dreamboats BOAT opens.

Menomena - "Wet & Rusting"

Blitzen Trapper - "Wild Mountain Nation"

Update: BOAT does have a video (thanks, LanceBangsGhost), it's just hard to find amidst all the home video footage of people's speedboats and yachts:

The show is at 7 pm at the HUB Ballroom, $6 for students, $12 for non-students, all-ages.

This Sunday, as a fundraiser for Seattle Art Cars, there will be a cross-dressing bowling and Oscar party at Sunset Bowl. Information about the event is here, but, really: cross-dressing, booze, bowling, and the Oscars. What more could you ask for?

El Corazon celebrates three years tonight--this show is going to be incredible:

These Arms Are Snakes, Mouth of the Architect, Past Lives, Helms at El Corazón If you've been paying attention at all to new local bands that rip shit up, then you already have your tickets to this show—which is the third-anniversary celebration for El Corazón. But it's openers Helms Alee that I'm most excited about—they're as much abrasive guitar-heavy hard rock as they are soaring, fuzzy noise. And they're fantastic. (El Corazón, 109 Eastlake Ave E, 381-3094. 8 pm, $10 adv/$12 DOS, all ages.) by Megan Seling

Exodus, Goat Whore, Arsis, Warbringer, HMP
(Studio Seven) Sayeth Saturday Knight Barfly: "Remember 1985? That's when Exodus released their Combat Records debut, Bonded by Blood. That album's release marked a sea change in my musical interests. The day it dropped, three friends and I took a bunch of acid, hopped in a Dodge Dart, put that album on, and drove to watch Venom, Slayer, and Exodus play at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium—we must've listened to it four times in the car. At the venue, we stole a jug of wine from a banquet room, rolled a T-shirt bootlegger for some Slayer Ts, puffed some brick weed with some cholos, and listened to BBB twice more before heading into the show. When we did, Exodus was playing 'Piranha.' In that moment, I figured out exactly what I was going to do with my life—get stoned every day and listen to thrash." LARRY MIZELL JR.

The Music of Led Zeppelin
(Paramount) A 50-piece orchestra and a "rock" band will be at the Paramount doing horrible Muzak versions of Led Zeppelin songs. There is a pitiful Robert Plant rip-off named Randy Jackson from the band Zebra and the reunited Jefferson Airplane who is singing. He even has Robert Plant hair. The ads for this show use the words "passion" and "power" to describe the music—in other words, it will sound like Yanni. Conductor Brent Havens says, "Vocalist Randy Jackson shrieks brilliantly and delivers a note-for-note interpretation. The music itself is one thing, but Jackson more than captures the spirit of legendary Led Zeppelin singer Robert Plant." Conductor Brent Havens is also deaf. The only spirit that is captured here is the spirit of your wallet. The "Kashmir" sounds like burlap, the "Black Dog" is white, and the "Stairway" is to Macy's. They're not "Going to California"; they're going to Bellevue. TRENT MOORMAN

Bug in the Bassbin reccomends:

Dirtybird's Christian Martin and Worthy play Chop Suey on Friday, February 22. The hype over the Dirtybird label has subsided a bit, but Christian Martin (brother of label founder Justin) has got its quirky sound on lock.

And there's quite a bit happening in the world of classical, avant garde, etc too--read about it in the Score.

...and just accept the fact that BORIS is the greatest living rock band on the planet. I don't want any arguments on the matter. After all, Takeshi has a double-neck bass/guitar; Atsuo has a gong; and Wata can outplay any other guitar player I've seen in recent memory despite being only half as tall as her Orange full-stack. Oh, and they're named after a Melvins song. I really don't think there's any denying their supremacy. Their new album Smile is due out April 29th on Southern Lord, but for now you can enjoy the video for Statement, the first single off the upcoming record.

A new song that doesn't have a name yet:

A cover of the Elevator to Hell song "Why I Didn't Like August '93":

And finally, the title track from the new album, "Call it Off":

Making the blog rounds today: Seattle popsters Throw Me the Statue's recent "take away show" for La Blogotheque. The band performs "About To Walk," "Lolita," and a cover of Guided By Voices' "My Valuable Hunting Knife" on a ferry full of morning commuters. "About to Walk" is especially swoon-worthy. Their debut album, Moonbeams, previously available via Baskerville Hill, was re-released yesterday on Secretly Canadian.

Throw Me the Statue play as part of the Stranger's Young Ones Showcase, a benefit for Real Change, Thurs March 6th at Neumo's and Sole Repair, $5 suggested donation, 21+

The West Fest is the best fest- All Points West Festival lineup released

British blowout!- Amy Winehouse and Paul McCartney steal the show at the Brit Awards

Rock and roll all night- Simmon's lawyer confirms sex tape is real.

EMI drops the ball- Art brut "pissed off" at their record label.

One thing that continues to intrigue me, is in the short time span between 1976 - 1979, which is known as the golden era of disco, how many artists, producers, and projects became short lived regardless of having a top charting single. With the fall of disco, at least from the mainstream during the 1980's, it seems like record labels moved on to new things such as New Wave and Pop for their dance oriented releases. One project that seems to fall into that category of releasing a chart topping disco single only to completely disapear from the music scene is Eastside Connection. This group was produced by Harry Scorzo and released three 12" singles and one full-length LP during the late 1970's which included the disco classic and most notable, "You're so right for me". The project's other singles, "Frisco Disco" and "Quizas, quizas, quizas" were equally outstanding, however did not receive the kind of a attention that the You're so right for me 12" gained in 1978. Even with the success of this single, the group decided for unknown reasons, to disband. Even though we never got to hear what this group could of flourished into, like so many other disco projects of this era, we were left with a few amazing singles, which is more than I can say for a lot of today's artists.

Eastside Connection - You're so right for me

It happened... it really did.

(Eclipse photo by Nic Launceford)

First time I listened to Janet's Discipline, set for release next week, I was distracted enough to think the disc was awesome. The thought crept up on me while I was working on a writing assignment; I wasn't paying much attention to the music, but 15 minutes into the disc, I realized my head had been bobbing the whole time. So I went back and gave it a harder listen, and the highlights on this thing are surprising. She's on a robo-pop kick now, evident from the over-vocoded opening single "Feedback," but even that track's robophilia is redeemed by its hook (I happen to dig the over-edited enunciation of "fee-DBACK, fee-DBACK"). That bleeds into the crunk-keys slow-jam "LUV," then turns into "Rollercoaster," a strange piece of tribal pop whose melody is stripped to leave only multi-tracked vocals and synth percussion. Hey, give the girl credit for picking out a few good producers (Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins, her boyfriend Jermaine Dupri...did you know Dupri produced Kris Kross' debut record? I just figured this out and thought it deserved a two-sentence aside).

When I used the term "robo-pop," I totally bet you thought about Kanye and Daft Punk's bro-mance as of late, no? Then you'll love this--Janet's "So Much Betta" completely cribs DP's "Daftendirekt" for its beat. To her credit, she smothers the sample with a bizarre, chipmunk-pitched rap, giving the thing a vocal-percussive quality that actually makes it an album highlight. Still, this shit is getting ridiculous. What's next? Christina Aguilera releasing a FSOL tribute album? Decks&Drums&HannahMontana?

There are a couple of other decent tracks on Discipline (by-the-books radio single "The 1," complete with Missy Elliott cameo, and "Rock With U," not an MJ cover but a Euro-house popster that could've been on Madonna's Music), but that's about it. She's not exactly reinventing pop music with the good tracks, and the other 2/3 of the disc is boring, played-out R&B. Seriously, most of it is awful. Terrible. The kinds of jams you'd expect dudes to hump an ottoman to. Worse, I think that Janet's voice sounds more and more like her brother's as the years pass by, which is mighty creepy. If you're asking me to stomach sugary love/lust lyrics, Janet, don't sound like you're trying to serve the Jesus Juice.

Narcocorrido music makes gansta rap look like a walk in the park:

Popular Mexican singer Jesus Rey David Alfaro was found murdered along with his manager and assistant. Alfaro, known as The Little Rooster, and six others were tortured, murdered and pinned with messages for the Mexican army.

The musicians, who sing “narcocorrido” songs glorifying drug traffickers, were the latest murdered in the drug war between Tijuana’s main drug trafficking group Arellano Felix and traffickers lead by Joaquin “Shorty” Guzman. At least 6 other “narcocorrido” singers have been murdered in the war.

“We believe Alfaro had links to the Arellano Felix cartel,” said an official.

A note reading “You’ll be next” was pinned to Alfaro’s body. He was found in a wasteland on the edge of Tijuana. Rope marks could be seen on his neck. Officials say they believe he Alfaro was tortured before he was shot in the head.

Here's The Little Rooster in a happy moment of his short life"

I was fooling around the other day with itunes, attempting to compress the Beatles' White Album double CD version onto a single CD...I don't want two CDs that each only play for about 45 minutes. Plus, I'm not a fan of EVERY song, so I had to dump 14 minutes or so of DEAD weight...the hated Ob-la-de Ob-la-da was FIRST to get cut! So then I figured why not rearrange the track list to suit MY taste! HA, suck on that Mr. Martin! Plus, digitally, the original LP concept (or whatever) is NOT considered as a double CD. As a double LP there were four sides programmed by the band/producer to, respectably, consider, with specific beginnings and endings. You couldn't escape 'em either...well, unless you hovered over the turntable playing only the songs you wanted to hear (or you made a TAPE, I guess), so, odds are, you'd sit through which ever side was playing and hear what THEY wanted you to hear as THEY wanted you to hear it. Unless you were Charles Manson, then you heard something far sinister...ANYWAYS, now, as an armchair producer, I've built a SINGLE 78 minute start to finish piece. No time between tracks either...so here, I give you the Beatles, the "Mike Album" (GET IT?...har har har!)

Back In The U.S.S.R.
Glass Onion
Dear Prudence
Wild Honey Pie
While My Guitar Gently Weeps
Happiness Is A Warm Gun
Martha My Dear
Blackbird
I'm So Tired
Piggies
Rocky Raccoon
I Will
Julia
Why Don't We Do It In The Road
Birthday
Mother Nature's Son
Yer Blues
Everybody's Got Something To Hide
Sexy Sadie
Long Long Long
Revolution 9
Helter Skelter
Savory Truffle
Cry Baby Cry
Revolution 1

Ah, now thats better!

I'm not sure why I started to care about Hot Water Music a lot more once they started announcing random tour dates--I always loved the band, they put on killer live shows, but I wasn't that heartbroken when they broke up. They had been around forever. It was time.

But then they started in with the whole "Yeah, we'll play one show" thing. Which turned into one more show. Teasing and taunting. That turned into a few more shows, an appearance at SXSW, and now they're adding even MORE dates. They're playing Bamboozle Left with 7 Seconds on April 6th in Irvine, CA, and then they're playing a few dates over in Germany in May.

Quit fucking around, HWM! Just fucking come to Seattle! Hell, I'll even go to Portland! And if you give me enough notice, maybe I'll even make the trek to San Francisco. Just admit it. You're back. You're a band again. Just go the fuck on tour already.

Ahem.

Thank you for listening.

Bremerton! Wait, what?

Before heading off to Tennessee for the Bonnaroo festival in June, Death Cab For Cutie will be making it's way down the West Coast for a stint of dates that begins with a show in Bremerton on April 18th, forgoing a Seattle show. Following them down the coast will be MXPX the Cave Singers. Death Cab have also released a track listing for their upcoming album Narrow Stairs, out May 13th.

TacocaT, the Suspicions, Reverse Dotty, the Hungry Pines
(Comet) A parable about TacocaT: A friend of mine and I were backstage at a recent show. TacocaT, on stage, launched into a song. As the rough punk rhythm and muffled vocal/guitar wail seeped through the walls, my friend said, "Oh, this is my favorite TacocaT song!" "This?" I asked him. "This is a Bikini Kill song." "Really?" he asked, looking genuinely surprised. "Yeah, this is their cover of 'Carnival' by Bikini Kill." "Oh." ERIC GRANDY

Shat, Lesbian, BlöödHag, Get Down Syndrome
(Funhouse) It's confusing, right? Four DUDES calling themselves "Lesbian," playing really heavy, sludgy metal with an album titled Power Whore. Oops, make that Power Hör. What-the-F are they trying to say? You know, I DON'T KNOW. What I do know is that their sound is an awesomely confusing super-mix of black metal and prog, with a dash of Krautrock and sludge-doom thrown in—an entirely genre-defying new brand of psychedelic, almost hypnotic metal that stoners and nerds alike can bang to. Think Neurosis in bed with Pelican. Or Venom making out with Boris. Or High on Fire going out to dinner with Isis. You get the picture. Hey, I wonder if the Les'bros know that the Wildrose has live music now. Now THAT would be some genre defiance. KELLY O

Sia, Har Mar Superstar
(Showbox at the Market) Admittedly, I had no idea who Sia was when I wrote a post about her on Line Out a month or so ago. To me, she was just a cute blond lady drawing on her face with Crayola markers on the cover of her new solo disc, Some People Have Real Problems, on which she sings songs that are childlike, playful, and catchy, but unremarkable. Then I learned, via Line Out's unforgiving commenters, that she was one of the vocalists for Zero7 (her work with them was, apparently, "incredible") and one of her songs appeared "in a pivotal moment" on the final episode of Six Feet Under. She's from Australia, and she's been around forever—experimenting with triphop, acid jazz, and adult contemporary—and OMG, you guys, I'm sorry I didn't know. Her record is out on the Starbucks label, and all her history doesn't change the fact that it's unremarkable. MEGAN SELING

And from The Score:

BUDDY CATLETT This fine bassist has gigged with just about everybody, most notably Count Basie and Frank Sinatra. Here, Catlett anchors a quintet stocked with fellow Seattle jazz legends Clarence Acox (drums), Hadley Caliman (saxophone), Bob Hammer (piano), and Julian Priester (trombone). Seattle City Hall, 600 Fourth Ave, 684-7171, noon—1 pm, free.

(Awesome eclipse photo by Nic Launceford.)

Last night, between 7:01 and 7:51 pm, somewhere between 150 and 200 people gathered in Cal Anderson Park to sing "Total Eclipse of the Heart" at the moon, which was in a full lunar eclipse. The group, of mixed ethnicity, age, and gender, sang the song exactly 10 times.

At the top of Teletubby Hill, one man stood holding a boombox over his head, John Cusack style. Another man, the one who conceived of the event in the first place, held a megaphone. The rest of the singers cascaded down the hill all the way back to the fountains, so they appeared to be serenading the moon.

Some people came to the event because they're on the Seattle Cacophony listserv, which is also the birthplace of events like Santarchy and the Brides of March. One man came because of his friend--"There must be ten people here because of him," he laughed--who initially received the e-mail through rampant forwarding. Another man, wandering through the park, saw the gathering, shouted "All right!" like he'd waited his entire life for a large group of strangers to be singing "Total Eclipse of the Heart" in the middle of a park, and ran to the mass of people, who welcomed him enthusiastically. People who hadn't seen each other in years happened across each other. One woman climbed her boyfriend and started making out with him.

More singers climbed the hill already singing the song, like a weird version of that old "I'd Like to Buy the World a Coke" commercial. And it was an honestly touching event: It's hard to convey the power of dozens of people repeatedly singing "Forever's gonna start tonight" all at once, but if you were there and you didn't feel tingles, you must be a little dead inside.

Between songs, the man with the megaphone would announce the number the group had gotten up to: "This is the third iteration!" By the sixth iteration, people were do-se-do-ing during the "Turnaround" parts. During the seventh iteration, somebody was beatboxing along to the chorus. During the eighth iteration, a sad-looking woman came over, sat by the group without singing, and stared off, looking sad. At the end of that iteration, she stood up, nodded to herself, and then wandered off. She looked a little happier. And, full disclosure: I choked up during the sixth chorus, which in my opinion was the strongest.

Before the man with the megaphone announced the ninth iteration, a flight of birds flew overhead in V formation, lit by the park's streetlights. The singers burst into spontaneous applause. After the tenth iteration, the man with the megaphone announced: "Ladies and gentlemen, I give you: The Moon!" Everyone applauded more. Finally, because someone announced it was the man with the megaphone's birthday, everyone sang "Happy Birthday," before wandering off to drink and nurse their colds and sleep. "Total Eclipse of the Heart" is officially the best song in the world.

These Arms Are Snakes play El Corazon’s 3rd Anniversary show tomorrow, Friday, Feb. 22nd with Mouth of the Architect, Past Lives, and Helms Alee.

These Arms Are Snakes are a road band. They’ve made multiple trips to Europe and tour constantly. When they play, they bring it all, full bore. They dive and bleed. They’re tough, like their guitar lit music. (Lit as in fire.) There is no getting around their toughness.

These Arms bassist Brian Cook took time to have story time. Then he slapped me around. I mean, I asked him to slap me, but still, he slapped me:

I’m sure you all have a story or two from the road. Can you give these readers some These Arms stories?
Brian: In Hollywood, Steven (singer) snuck into Anna Nicole Smith's birthday party after our set at some douchebag venue. He showed up later with her lipstick smeared all over his face and her birthday cake all over his sweater.

For a Halloween show in Connecticut we dressed up as the Nativity scene. I was Joseph, Ryan and Chris were wise men. Steve was Mary, though he wound up stripping down to women's underwear. We had a baby Jesus in a manger at the front of the drum set. Chris had rigged an elaborate tubing system through the baby Jesus doll that caused it to projectile vomit bright green puke at a particularly dramatic point in the set. Good times.

For my 27th birthday, I tried to drink 27 drinks in 27 hours. I snuck out of the bar we were hanging out at and my bandmates later found me wandering the streets out of breath and incoherently babbling about "chasing the animal". I wound up trying to punch Erin from Minus the Bear, who was drumming for us at the time, when he was trying to help me go to bed.

In Detroit we wandered through an abandoned Catholic school at night. We walked through the empty classrooms and up to the roof and watched several blocks of the ghetto burn to the ground.

What is the secret to touring?
Alone time and independence. The first bit of wisdom I ever got from anyone regarding touring was to spend at least ten minutes alone everyday. Go for a walk, grab some coffee, whatever. But get away from your bandmates before you go crazy. I don't know how the hell I toured before the age of cellphones. That shit is like a lifeline away from the weird insular biosphere of the van. More and more, I’m beginning to recognize the beauty in eating alone. Everyone in the van has a pretty different diet and attitude towards food, and it's kinda interesting how big of a factor it becomes. I've definitely learned that touring gets easier when i'm willing to eat alone in a restaurant.

(photo at top of post: Ryan Russell)

Continue reading "These Arms Are Telling Stories" »

He would have been 41 years old today.

The Cobain documentary About A Son was released on DVD yesterday. A limited edition vinyl version of the soundtrack will be released on Barsuk next month.

"In third grade I stopped liking Metallica because they made a music video."

100 people died at a Great White show.

(Thanks for the link, Hickey.)

No Age release tracklisting for new album- Some more tour dates as well.

Hancock to the top!- River: The Joni Letters jumps from 159 to 5 since the Grammy's

Coming up empty- No bids placed yet on "The World's Greatest Music Collection"

Welcome back, grrl!- Amy Winehouse to play first public concert since getting out of rehab.

This month The Stranger announced the 2008 Young Ones, a list of eight talented artists in Seattle who are making great music and predicted to find success over the course of the next year. There will be a party celebrating all the bands on Thursday, March 6th, and in the days leading up to the event, we will profile a band a day here on Line Out. Visit www.thestranger.com/youngones for more information.

The Pharmacy have been around for years--they released their full-length debut, B.F.F., in 2005. They've played hundreds of shows, gone on tours with artists like Kimya Dawson, Best Friends Forever, and Matt & Kim, and during their adventures they've been arrested, stranded, and cut by sharp rocks in a river. The band's also gone through a regularly rotating cast of characters. The trio turned into a duo that turned into a quartet that turned back into a trio, which is where they're at now with drummer Brendhan Bowers, guitarist and singer Scott Yoder, and keyboardist Stefan Rubicz.

We've watched them morph from a discordant DIY punk band with melodies that struggled to breath under lo-fi recordings into power pop gold with messy but enthusiastic song structures and memorable choruses.

That's why they're one of this year's Young Ones. In just two weeks the band well release their second full-length--Choose Your Own Adventure is the best thing the band's done. Scott Yoder's voice still struggles to hit some of the higher notes (and that's one thing I like about his voice), and some songs are pure, blissful power-pop, while others still got that angst that made B.F.F. so fun to scream along to. With the release of this album and the most sturdy line-up the band has had in years, they're poised to have a great fucking 2008.

Here's the video for the song "Little Toys on a Shelf," which is on the yet-to-be-released album Choose Your Own Adventure (out Feb 26th on Don't Stop Believin'):

The Pharmacy, sadly, will be leaving on tour after their February 29 and March 1st CD release shows, so they won't be appearing at the Young Ones party on Thursday, March 6th. But the line-up is still great--Sleepy Eyes of Death, Throw Me the Statue, Truckasauras, the Moondoggies, Talbot Tagora, the Physics, and we can't forget about headliners Arthur & Yu and Dyme Def. The shows are at Neumo's and Sole Repair, and it's only $5 to get into the whole thing. All that cash goes to benefit Real Change.

Visit www.thestranger.com/youngones for more information.

The woman in the water...
...is the woman who kills Kanye West in the video for "Flashing Lights."

Her name is Rita G. The G stands for something. That something is known not by me. The place to see what Rita is all about is here. And below are some "crazy Facts about Rita G."

* I have a ‘mini’ fetish. I’m obsessed with all things miniature and tiny. I eat with a baby spoon and sometimes drink wine out of a cute glass the size of a thimble… I wear ‘baby’ tee’s for real - real tight shirts from the kids section.. lol

* I don’t use deodorant. Once I learned about the harmful effects that aluminum and mercury have on the body (linked to Alzheimer’s) I searched for an effective natural way to stay dry - I apply pure aloe vera gel to my underarms and it seems to work just fine for me.

* I don’t wash my clothes very often. Well, I did say I would reveal my ‘dirty’ secrets didn’t I? Actually it’s just that I have so many clothes I am not forced to laundry for months and by that time I would have already bought more clothes!

* I am an AQUARIUS, to the extreme.

* I like shopping at the dollar store.. guaranteed to be a cheap date. I doesn’t take much to make me happy.

* I didn’t have a TV for nine years. When I was 14 I read a book about the ways that our subconscious mind is programmed by media images and I gave away my TV. Though I have one now I still prefer a good book instead.
* Favorite scent that drives men (and women) crazy when I wear it - Marina de Bourbon, it’s French and is very seductive…. my other fav is a perfume oil called Pikaki Lei - a hawaiian flower from the tropical rainforest.

Speaker Speaker (finally) released their J. Robbins produced full-length, Call it Off, yesterday. Hooray!

You can listen to the whole thing for free at Burning Building's website: bbrecordings.com.

They're celebrating with a free, acoustic in-store performance at Sonic Boom in Ballard tonight at 7 pm.

Now here's a video for their song "Statues/Shadows" (which is on Call it Off (sorry Jasen).

And here's a video of drummer Jasen Samford making cinnamon come out of his nose while Steely Dan plays overhead at some pizza joint:

Taken by vassertron.

Arcade Lover - Fantasy Lines 12"
-----------------------------------------
This week I want to recommend checking out Arcade Lover's debut 12" single Fantasy Lines. This single was released this week on Sav Remzi's Tirk label. Arcade Lover features a cast of proven new school disco veterans including Metro Area's Darshan Jesrani, Escort's Dan Balis (Guitar & Keys), Caleb Burhans (violin, viola), Ernesto Abreau (percussion), and Benny Herson (drums), as well as Jonathan Maron from Groove Collective on bass, Lisa Shaw on vocals, and disco DJ/Producer/Re-edit master Lee Douglas on clavinet. This single has a definite 70's cosmic/space disco groove, sounding a lot like a slowed down funky Escort track that was recorded on a journey to the moon. That being said, it's safe to say that this new fantastic disco single is one of the best 12" records to be released this year so far.

Arcade Lover - Fantasy Lines (Sample Clip)
Buy Record

MEN, Hey Willpower
(Nectar Lounge) MEN is the new project from Johanna Fateman and JD Samson of beloved but defunct electro riot act Le Tigre. They bill themselves as "producers and remixers and DJs," and their MySpace page features some mashed-up demos that splice Missy Elliot, CSS, Soulwax, Kelly Clarkson, Lil Jon, and more (they list their genres as "club/crunk/big beat"). San Francisco's Hey Willpower is the electro-pop/R&B alias of Imperial Teen's Will Schwarz and Tussle's Tomo Yasuda. Their songs range from frivolous, disposable goofs to genuinely sexy dance-floor come-ons to the elated pop grace of early single "Hundredaire." Live, Schwarz's considerable charisma is aided by waifish boy/girl backup dancers. This might be the gayest dance party Fremont has seen in a long-ass time. It should be a blast. ERIC GRANDY

Also tonight, Saigon at Neumo's. Larry Mizell wrote about him in this week's My Philosophy:

These days, we need somebody like Saigon. In an age when Fat Joe can't seem to hop off DJ Khaled's speedboat, when hiphop's love, money, and inspiration are all in dangerously short supply—shit, when there's actually kids debating Soulja Boy vs. GZA—an outspoken and combustible NYC traditionalist refusing to budge from hiphop's bleeding edge like it's a pissy Bed-Stuy stoop is particularly heartening.

When I first heard Warning Shots, 2004's retail-ready "Best of" collection of Saigon's by then prodigious mixtape output, I was most struck by how gangsta his gangster was. 50 Cent, who just two years prior was in the same spot, was already oiling up for the ladies, LL-style. Someone like Sai, not long out of prison for attempted murder, was in a perfect position to out-thug the big dogs. But instead of doing photo shoots in bullet-proof vests, Saigon gave some infamously ill interviews, denouncing artists like Snoop and Game for glorifying gangbanging.

And, as you probably know, Grand Archives are playing two shows at the Triple Door tonight. They are, I've been told, sold out. Read Brad Steinbacher's interview with Mat Brooks here. Watch a couple videos from last night's Sonic Boom in-store here.

Prove it by watching the (dear god even typing the words makes me want to vomit) the just-surfaced Gene Simmons sex tape.

It's NSFW, obviously. It's also one of the more depressing sex acts you'll ever see. Can it be that Gene Simmons has created the world's first effective piece of abstinence education?

Apologies to all, especially that poor hooker who can't bear to kiss Simmons on the mouth.

Thank you, Fleshbot. (Link NSFW)

I posted the above picture of Slats at King Cobra last week. The caption said, “Slats. You’ve seen him. You love him. He knows Duff Mckagan.”

‘NotAPoser’ said:

Hey, quit lending credence to wastes of space and air like Slats by giving them trainspotter status. Fuck off!

The ‘Where’s Slats?’ thread on the Stranger Forum has been running since Nov. 2006. It’s good reading. ‘Tube’ says:

Slats is so cool that he doesn't walk down Broadway, Broadway simply rolls under Slats.

What do you say?:

Does Slats deserve train-spotter status?

Have you ever seen Slats?

Slats is a:

Does Slats really know Duff Mckagan?

Does Slats walk down Broadway or does Broadway roll under Slats?

This just in from the interwebs, on this day of the lunar eclipse:

Please join me in Cal Anderson park on February 20th at 7:01PM to sing "Total Eclipse of the Heart" karaoke-style for the 51 minutes that the eclipse is, in fact, total.

If you want to bring along music to sing along to...feel free. If you want to play an instrument, feel free. If you want to bring your whole band, go ahead. I will have a megaphone so that people can take their turn on the top of the hill if they want. If you bring your own megaphone, don't be a dick.

I didn't really have any experience with the song until this party, but since then it's become one of my favorite karaoke songs to watch. It's almost impossible to sing it without really feeling it. People can start off all "Oh, this is so funny and clever, ha-ha, what a cheesy song," but by the time they get to the "And I need you now tonight/And I need you more than ever/And if you'll only hold me tight/We'll be holding on forever" part, those motherfuckers are totally living "Total Eclipse of the Heart." It would be fun to see a bunch of people really get into it, although 51 minutes is a long damn time to sing anything. Still, though, I know what song I've got stuck in my head for the rest of the day.

Recently, on this comments thread, it's been suggested that I don't like rock & roll. It's also been suggested that I wear girl pants and suck dick, but we'll get to that in a second. First, a list of rock bands I've written about in recently:

Past Lives

No Age

The Teenagers

Les Savy Fav

Throw Me The Statue

Art Brut

The Thermals

But, of course, the real problem isn't that I don't write about rock & roll. It's that I don't write about rock & roll as narrowly defined by these commenters (many of them the charming partisans of King Cobra). Because I don't think rock & roll has to conform to a leather-jacket-slats-hat-and-tattoos aesthetic. Because I don't think it has to be juvenile or anti-intellectual. Because I don't think it has to be homophobic, misogynistic, or macho. No, the real problem is that I "wear girl pants," that I'm an "emo bitch," or that I'm the "main attraction at [Neighbors'] aids socket/glory hole." And if that shit's rock & roll, then you losers can have it.

We lost a Sonic Boom last night.

There was a sonic boom last night.

Via the PI:

SPOKANE, Wash. -- An apparent meteor streaked through the sky over the Pacific Northwest early Tuesday, drawing reports of bright lights and sonic booms in parts of Washington, Oregon and Idaho.

Although a witness reported seeing the object strike the Earth in a remote part of Adams County, in southeast